Tales of Monokuro—Luma's Story Mode
by Alchemy and Rainbows
Summary: Luma Artemes was never one for hero work; she was an outlaw, after all. But when a puppet master, a gothic lolita, and a young pirate drag her into the midst of a brewing war, old dogs are forced to learn new tricks. OC-centric, AU
1. Prologue—The Sun and Moon: Sol and Luma!

**Title: Tales of Monokuro (Luma's story mode)**

**Rating: M**

**Written by: Tempest**

**Summary: Luma Artemes was never one for hero work; she was an outlaw, after all. But when a puppet master, a gothic lolita, and a young pirate drag her into the midst of a brewing war, old dogs are forced to learn new tricks.**

* * *

><p><em>The moon was its usual claw-scratch in the sky, reflected eerily in every tide pool on the shore of the lake. Luma crouched in the shadow of a tree, clutching her bloodied, throbbing shoulder. She could just make out in the darkness that her vest and tunic were shredded by whatever had wounded her.<em>

_Every bush seemed to shudder with unseen enemies; no puddle remained untainted with scarlet fluid. If she squinted, the girl was sure she could make out eyes peering back at her from across the sandy clearing. A dull buzz reverberated in her mind, which gradually grew to an ear-splitting screech._

_She made to stand up, and all hell broke loose._

"Yo, Luma! Get _up_, lazy!"

For all the clinging fear of her dreams, she looked calm enough when she awoke, blinking awake slowly and sitting up. Her sleepy celadon gaze was met evenly with an irritated carmine one, which snapped her back to reality.

"Sol!" she gasped, clutching her blankets to her near-naked body in embarrassment, feeling her cheeks burn like logs in a fireplace. Her shock ebbed some, and she grinned sheepishly. "I overslept again...?"

Sol snorted, fixing his ivory hair into a ponytail.

"What do you think, Lu?"

"Sorry, sorry! Can you cover my shift for me?"

The boy raised an eyebrow, setting his satchel down on his coworker's bedside table and opening the window, letting in the light of the mid-morning sun.

"Going hunting again?" He asked slowly. "You know that's illegal."

"Please~, Sol?"

"Fine..." Sol sighed finally. "Take Leif with you, though. And don't get into any trouble. Your dad would kill me if anything happened to you out there."

He shifted his weight onto his right foot, running his fingers through his hair. When he turned around, Luma was fully clothed, sheathing her katana and adjusting the laces of her left hunting boot. Her hair, jet-black and dyed green at the ends, curled over the flat of her chest in a carless braid. She wore her usual outfit; a charcoal tunic, which was tied higher on the left than the right, and black, baggy sweats. Over her top was a black vest with a cyan insignia over either breast, which matched the teal swirls on her fingerless gloves and single hunting boot. Under the whole outfit and over her right foot was a length of white fabric, which could easily have been filched bandage or gauze.

"I'll be careful. Promise!"

* * *

><p>The sun had long ascended the spiraling staircase of the sky when Luma wrapped her fingers around the rusty hilt of her blade and slid the weapon from its sheath, which bumped silently against her left thigh. She tossed the blade from hand to hand, then let it rest loosely in her upturned right palm.<p>

A notch-eared, taupe-pelted creature crouched at her side, the curved blade of a sickle clenched tightly between its twisted jaws. The only word that described Leif was ugly. He scarcely looked like the sweet little puppy Luma made him out to be, despite the little yellow ribbon tied around his neck.

"Pollywiggle." she noted after a moment, tightening her grip on her sword. The creature sat directly under the tree where Luma and Leif were hidden. "I've got this one."

Her muscles were bunched like a coiled spring, ready to release, when a violent snarl shook the air. A blue and white wolf came hurdling through the brush, flanked hastily by a larger, green and ivory dog in similar armor. Leif bristled beside Luma, who almost fell out of the tree.

"Those mutts are from the capital." She muttered, looking away as the larger dog leaped at the Pollywiggle, cutting its shocked cry short. "Damn...I didn't wanna have to fight..."

"Then don't."

Before Luma could see who had spoken, something heavy collided with her forehead. This time, the branch swayed under her weight, and she fell from her perch, feeling her right sleeve catch something as she fell. She hit the ground a second later, sending shockwaves of pain bolting up and down her right shoulder. When she forced her eyes open, she realized that her arm was bleeding heavily.

Leif wasn't in much better shape. The two dogs from the capital had him backed against the tree that he had just been hiding in. His flank and muzzle were slashed, and he moved with a limp.

Panicked, Luma reached for her left glove, trying desperately to tug it off. A carefully stung knife struck her other hand away, though. She gave one final, enraged scream before blacking out.


	2. Panamko? Just Who Are These Three?

_Luma stood with a jump, drawing her sword and whirling around. She couldn't see Leif anywhere, and his absence frightened her. She didn't have time to dwell on it, though. A Chimera and a Manticore were already poised to fight in front of her._

_Her right shoulder was still bleeding and hurt like hell. She held her blade in her left hand, shakily and awkward. She couldn't fight like this; surely she would die. As the Manticore jumped at her throat, teeth bared, she let her weapon clatter to the ground._

_The fangs never struck._

She sat up with a gasp, her head slamming against a stone wall.

It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness. When they finally did, though, there wasn't much to look at. The room she was in wasn't more than two or three square yards in area. It was empty, too, with a barred metal window overlooking the night landscape. A feeling of dread coiled in the pit of her stomach. When she pulled frantically at her hands, metal cuffs dug into her wrists and restricted her movement.

"Hey, calm down!" a voice hissed from her right. Her blood ran cold with fear at the feeling of a curved blade resting against the side of her throat. She managed a fearful groan behind her gag. Whatever artes her kidnapper had used bound her legs and head, so that she couldn't crane her neck and look over at the person as they spoke.

"I didn't mean to knock you out..." the voice continued, and Luma realized that the girl it belonged to wasn't any older than twelve or thirteen. The blade lowered. "Well, maybe I did. But I didn't have a choice in the matter."

"We were just following orders~!" a second girl agreed, and Luma realized that two more children of about the same age had sneaked up on her left. "Right, Elize?"

"R-right..."

"Anise." the first girl commanded, and the blade sliced through the gag over Luma's mouth. She cast her prisoner a glare that warned against screaming out. "Go tell the colonel that she's awake."

"Yes, ma'am! Come on, Elly."

"O-okay..."

Two sets of footsteps sauntered from the cell and—Luma was sure—down a staircase; the first was a jolly skip, and the second a slow dragging of boots. Once she was certain that she was alone with just the remaining girl, she took in a shaky breath. The hilt of the girl's knife pressed against her chin, then trailed down her neck and stopped at her collarbone.

"Where am I?" she demanded. No sooner had the words left her mouth than her ankles were released, and she fell forward, off the edge of the makeshift bed and onto the cold stone floor. Her knees stung, and she knew they were scraped. When the chains on her wrists came off, she staggered again and put her arms out to break the fall. Her shoulder ached.

"In Panamko, of course." the girl replied, leaning against the far wall of the cell. Her face was covered by the brim of a large, feathered pirate hat, but Luma could make out her smirk in the moonlight. She held a knife in one hand and a green handbag in the other, and wore a pinkish dress.

"Panamko..." Luma echoed. "The capital of the Northern Peninsula..."

"A bit out of the way, I'll admit, but..." she trailed off as the trap door in the corner opened again, and the two other girls reentered along with a long-haired man in military attire. "Colonel!"

The man frowned, entwining a gloved hand in his own hair. His scarlet eyes glinted in irritation behind the frames of his glasses. He sighed, straightening out his jacket and nodding towards the girl in the corner, who had thrown her hat aside and stood, bowing slightly and saluting.

"Didn't I tell you girls not to hurt her, Chat?" he asked disdainfully, offering Luma his hand. She pushed it away, leaning all her weight on her left arm as she stood.

"Sorry, Colonel." the pirate murmured, pulling her hat back on and shuffling her feet.

"It's quite alright...although I believe you owe your victim the sincerest of apologies."

There was a quick chorus of three sheepish "sorry"'s to which Luma hummed in acknowledgement. The colonel smiled in approval, sliding his glasses further up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, then pointing towards the door.

"Why don't you three wait for me in the plaza? The last thing we need is you scaring this young lady away."

"Yes, Colonel!"

"Roger that!"

"Alright...!"

...

"They're gone." Luma noted weakly, feeling her knees start to buckle. The man's arm was around her shoulder before she could land ungracefully on her face again.

"Er, thank you, Colonel."

"Just 'Jade' will do." he corrected.

"Right..." the girl trailed off, watching the sunrise through the barred window. "Look...I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to go home now. I sort of left without a warning, thanks to your little minions."

"My, my...impatient now, aren't we? Let's look at the facts here; you were trespassing in the Panamko Woods, which is within Meguro borders. That is a crime punishable by life in prison."

Luma didn't reply.

"That isn't to say I intend to lock you up."

"You already have."

"True."

Luma sighed, leaning back against the wall.

"Okay, I'm sorry." she murmured finally. "How can I get myself outta this mess?"

"Oh?" Jade smirked, looking like he was getting a kick out out of the conversation already. "Get yourself out of this? And what if you can't?"

"You already said there was a way." Luma countered. "You told we you weren't going to lock me up."

"Ah, did I?" Jade asked with a shrug, shaking his head. "Perhaps I did..."

Inwardly, Luma groaned.

* * *

><p>The streets of Panamko were surprisingly empty, even taking into account the odd hour. Luma stared at the ground while she walked, side-by-side with Colonel Jade Curtiss.<p>

The city was large, she'd give it that. Every building was huge; three-story, Spanish-title roof kinda huge. The streets weren't the dirt paths that she was so accustomed to. They were paved with cobblestones and what looked like silver or gold dust, so that the whole of the ground seemed to shimmer. Market stalls and such lined the sidewalks. The whole city was clean, like some fastidious leader reigned and outlawed any and all filth.

—Skit No. 001: Thunderstruck—

"Whoa..." Luma breathed.

"You seem impressed." Jade chuckled.

"I've just...never been in a city like this before." Luma replied.

"You grew up in a village in the Neutrality Crescent, didn't you?" Jade inquired thoughtfully.

"Yeah." Luma replied. "I never got to ride in elevators or have a second story...and I never had to worry about crossing the street."

"Oh?" Jade prompted. "Do you have something against streets?"

"N-never mind." Luma huffed.

—End Skit—

The plaza came into view after twenty or so minutes. It was a huge, round common, centered in front of the palace. More shops were crammed haphazardly into every inch of free space on the circumference. Children and a few adults hustled about, either shopping, or playing in groups, or being late to school.

The three girls from earlier were leaning on the fountain in the center of the plaza. Luma could finally get a glimpse of the inferior two children; the taller, more awkward of the two had long, blonde hair that cascaded down her back and ended just below her waist. The shorter had darker skin than the tall blonde, but lighter skin than the pirate. Her hair, black as night and full of curls, she wore in pigtails. Around her shoulders, an ugly, patchwork doll clasped its arms. All three of the girls were now clad in the same pink and blue sailor fuku.

The pigtailed girl looked up, smiling a Cheshire cat grin upon noticing Jade and Luma. The latter sucked in a sharp breath and groaned, while the former smirked and adjusted his glasses.

"Colonel, you're back!" the girl cooed, all but glomping the man, then sending Luma a menacing glare. "We were afraid that the little rat turned on you!"

"I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt, Colonel." the taller girl agreed. Her eyes were downcast, and she held a pink and purple doll in one hand.

Jade chuckled, wrapping an arm around either girl. The pirate girl hesitated, then joined in on the group hug after a moment.

Luma cleared her throat, stamping her near-bare foot on the ground.

"If you don't mind me asking," she interrupted, jabbing a finger at the girl with jet pigtails, "who the hell are you three?"

She swallowed hard, regretting the harshness of her own words as eight eyes—two brown, two sapphire, two gold, and two red—watched her with either hurt, disapproval, or a mix of the two.

"Okay, forget I asked..." she mumbled. "Let's just go."

"Go where...?" the long-haired girl asked quietly.

"Back to the base." Jade replied cheerily, taking a step back and putting his hands on his hips. "Luma here has agreed to assist us on our mission!"

"I...I have?" she sighed.

—Skit No. 002: The Three Musketeers—

"So...who exactly _are _you?" Luma asked.

"Us?" the pigtailed puppeteer asked. "I'm Master Puppeteer, Ex-Thief Anise Tatlin of the Panamko military, third division!"

"Um...I'm Elize." the lolita murmured.

"Chat!" the pirate finally added. "Greatest pirate to ever be caught and imprisoned by a Panamko soldier."

"Thief? Pirate? You sound more like criminals than soldiers." Luma mumbled.

"They are." Jude cut in.

"What!?" Luma squeaked.

"They're in the same boat as you, as it happens." Jade added with a smirk.

—End Skit—

* * *

><p>It was dark.<p>

That was the second thing Leif had realized when he awoke. The first was that Luma had vanished from his presence. The third was that he was in a cage with two other creatures.

He recognized one as the blue wolf that attacked him earlier. A growl rose in his throat, and he had to bite his tongue to stifle it. Picking a fight wouldn't help him out of this mess. That wasn't how Luma did things, so that wasn't how Leif would do them.

Neither of his young masters were here to save him. He would have to rely on his own brute strength—not Luma's willpower, and not Sol's wits. He didn't have the girl to urge him on, or the boy to advise him.

Something moved in the cage behind him, and Leif bristled. A black and violet, catlike beast stood by his side, swishing its tail nonchalantly. The wall-eyed canine sneered, taking a step forward and nicking his muzzle on the wiry bars of the cage.

The cat chuckled a human-sounding chuckle and ran one paw over his face.

Leif whipped around with a snarl, lashing his forked tail in irritation. Pain seared into his throat from the insignia on his neck, which glowed in anticipation of battle.

"Now, there's no need for that." the cat scolded playfully, smirking. "I meant nothing by it. Merely a jest."

Leif paused, letting the fur lie flat on his back. The pain in his neck dulled to a throb, and his tail stilled.

"Good boy." the creature purred in Leif's ear. "Let's find your master, now, shall we?"


	3. Criminals? Luma's First Mission!

"You four wait here. And Anise, please don't kill Luma."

The group had, after what felt like another hour of walking, reached the headquarters of the Meguro military. Even at peace time, every door that branched off the main corridor was heavily guarded. The few windows that Luma could see were small, and looked almost unbreakable. The walls were all thick and metal; it made the girl feel like she was trapped in a giant iron box.

The three girls obeyed without protest, plopping themselves down on a bench by one of the little box-windows. Elize sat in the middle, curled in on herself nervously, with Anise kneeling to her right and peering outside, and Chat crouched on the edge of the seat to her left. It was almost eccentric, how different they all were, and yet they functioned so perfectly together. It made sense, though; Luma knew from experience that it was near impossible to keep the company of someone _too _similar to herself.

It was quiet in the small, round main room, awkwardly so. Luma paced the length of the wall, the notion of standing still making her head pound with unneeded anxiety and compulsion. She felt Elize's gaze following her across the the room for a moment, curious and concerned.

After a while, Luma forced herself to stand still; she was attracting too much attention. She narrowed her green eyes, looking across the room at a wall of wanted posters. She was pretty sure that the constant, neurotic shifting of her weight had long since caused a rash on her legs. Sighing, she made her way over to the poster-infested corkboard and examined it closely.

Her own picture, unsurprisingly enough, was pinned up with an old, rusty thumbtack, just under one of a young man with long, purple hair and matching violet eyes. She managed a triumphant smirk. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she grabbed the poster by its lower right corner, tore it down, and crumbled it up.

She turned around, made to throw the wad of paper on the ground, then froze.

A sudden, stomach-churning thought struck her, and she couldn't believe that it hadn't struck her earlier. Leif. She had to have been separated from her partner for at least eighteen hours. Somehow, she doubted the mutt had managed to abscond back to the village and warn Sol and her father.

She clutched her belly, nauseous with dread, and swallowed back the bile that slicked and burned the back of her throat. The sword fighter felt her breathing grow rapid, bordering on hyperventilation. Elize must have noticed her sudden state of despair, because the girl was suddenly at her side, a hand on her shoulder and one on her wrist, trying to calm her down.

"Luma?" she murmured, her voice cracking nervously. "Are you okay?"

Luma managed a choked sob in response before sliding to her knees and burying her face in her palms, digging her wrists into her eyes in a futile attempt to hold back the tears she knew would fall.

"Luma." Elize repeated, although this time, it was less of a question and more of an order, still spoken in the same timid whisper.

"Don't...don't look at me." Luma gasped, feeling her throat tighten and hearing her voice rise in pitch. "I don't want anyone to see me like this."

She desperately wanted the other to return to the bench with her companions. She did the opposite, though, and crouched down next to the sobbing mess Luma had become. Her arms went up and around the older female's shoulders, her lips moving with silent words of comfort.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, until Luma stopped quivering and whimpering. She took in a deep, shuddering breath, too exhausted to pry herself out of Elize's embrace, and let her head rest against the cool, metal walls, which felt downright frigid against her feverishly warm cheeks.

"Oh?" a familiar, mocking voice called from across the room. "Something wrong?"

"Jade?" Luma sniffled. She lifted her head from her hands, expecting to be met with the sight of the long-haired colonel. Instead, she found herself staring into the teasing, amber eyes of a black and violet, pointy-eared creature. She cried out in alarm, jumping to her feet and nearly tripping over Elize, who rolled back in surprise.

"Close," the beast chuckled, "but no cigar. Tenebre, not Jade."

"What the fuck _are _you!?" Luma demanded, raising a gloved arm defensively.

"Well, that was rather rude." Tenebrae scolded, swishing his glowing tail with mock indignation. "I only came here to return your slobbering, mangy dog. I believe you owe me a sincere thank you."

"W-wha...?" Luma started, then trailed off at a familiar three notes, howled softly behind her. She turned around just in time for Leif to jump at her, placing his forepaws on her shoulders and barking in greeting. They both lost their balance after a moment, and Luma fell down under his weight, laughing and gasping.

"Leif! You're okay!"

Her laughter ended abruptly as a shadow fell over the room. Elize, Anise, and Chat were on their feet in a matter of seconds, saluting, or bowing, or both.

"Colonel!" Chat and Anise greeted in unison.

"I hate to cut this beautiful reunion short," Jade sighed from the doorway, nodding in acknowledgment at the two girls by the window, "but it would appear that a couple of escaped prisoners have been giving the knights trouble as of late..."

"As of late?" Luma questioned.

"As of five minutes ago." Jade corrected impatiently. "The city is on lockdown because of it. Luma, I believe this is yours."

She almost didn't catch the sword as it flew towards her. She hurried to reattach the sheath to her belt.

"I have a good idea where the criminals might be hiding," the colonel continued, not missing a beat, "but we have to hurry if we want to reach there by nightfall."

"What are our orders, sir?" Chat asked, if only to clear up the doubt in anyone's mind.

Tenebrae and Jade exchanged a wordless glance. Both nodded.

Jade smirked, adjusting his glasses with his right middle finger. He lowered his arm, letting his right hand rest on his side, then pointed to the door with his left.

"To the Miri Woods!"


	4. Fight to the Death: Sol to the Rescue!

—Skit No. 003: Mistaken Identity—

"Wow." Luma sighed. "Colonel, you and Tenebrae are so similar. I almost thought he _was _you."

"Oh? Was that meant to be an insult, Luma?" Tenebrae asked, pretending to sound offended.

"N-no!" a flustered Luma replied.

"I can't _believe _you would compare me to the likes of _him_." Jade added.

"That's not what I meant..." Luma sighed.

Tenebrae and Jade laughed.

—End Skit—

The Miri Forest loomed over the group, casting its magnificent shadow over the earth below. Luma shivered and pulled her vest closer to her body, as though the sleeveless garment stood any chance of shielding her from the cold. Her right hand lowered to the opposite side of her waist, triple-checking that her sword in its sheath, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. She saw Leif stiffen at her side, running his tongue absentmindedly along the handle of his sickle.

The rest of the group, save for Tenebrae and Jade, who looked at least serious, seemed just as uncertain; Chat was gripping the strap of her handbag harder than usual, and Elize looked like she was on the verge of tears. Anise was biting her lip, threading the pink flesh between her teeth until it bled.

"Well, then, what are we standing around for?" Jade asked, turning to face the group. "Certainly not my decree. You have your orders to follow."

Nobody spoke.

Finally, Luma stepped forward, unsheathing her katana.

"He's right...are you three coming, or not?"

It was obvious that Anise and Chat knew a challenge when they heard one. The latter tugged on the brim of her hat, drew a knife from her handbag, and stormed into the forest behind Jade, while the former grabbed Elize's hand and dragged her less willing companion along. Luma grinned, slashing the air with her sword in a childish moment of triumph.

"Didn't peg you for the type to be good with kids." Tenebrae remarked.

"I just speak their language, is all." Luma huffed. "Now come on. We can't afford to fall too far behind Jade and the other—"

Luma's words were cut off suddenly by Anise's scream from deeper inside the forest.

"They're in trouble." Tenebrae hissed, the muscles in the hand-like end of his tail flexing.

"Damn!" Luma cursed. "I shouldn't have let them take so much as two steps ahead of us. Let's go, Tenebrae!"

"Right behind you!" the beast called over Luma's shoulder as they forged into the dense brush, tripping over roots and ducking under branches.

It didn't take long to stagger into a clearing, breathless and sore. Luma's uneven breathing hitched at the scene before her; a black and gold dragon, two-headed and red-eyed, crouched in the clearing, its wings spread across the sandy area. It had Elize pinned under one clawed foot, and Chat restricted by its flaming tail. Anise dangled from the jaws of its left head, struggling fruitlessly to pull her doll off of her shoulders. Only Jade was in any condition to fight, and he stood behind the monster, trying to buy himself time to cast an arte.

Luma didn't think twice. Ignoring her muscles cramping in protest, she threw herself into battle.

"Demon Fang!" she screamed, bringing her sword to the ground in a downward arch, watching as a single shockwave ran from the tip of the blade through the earth, striking the dragon in the flank. Both of its heads roared in pain, and Anise fell from its grip, screaming above the noise, "I'll kill you bastards!" Her doll came loose at the perfect moment, and it grew to about half the dragon's size, breaking the girl's fall.

"Indignation!"

The distraction had lasted just long enough; Jade raised a hand in the air, conjuring a blast of electricity. It hit the dragon's right wing, which twitched and spasmed at the pain. Slowly, it shifted it's weight, so that its claws were dangerously close to impaling Elize's throat, and it was a wonder the girl hadn't snapped like a twig under the weight of the colossal monster.

Tenebrae started to cast something, but Luma jabbed him in the side with her toe to stop him.

"It could hit Elize or Chat." she warned, sliding one foot back and crouching down, ready to run at the creature. "We need to rely on physical attacks and sword artes, now."

She paused, then bolted forward, raising her sword above her head. The dragon braced itself, digging its claws into the ground, clearly to Elize's dismay. Luma jumped up, slashing the right head in the process, then brought her blade back down on its skull with a cry of "Tiger Blade!"

If her attack had done any damage, it didn't show. A sudden burst of flame singed Luma's right pant leg, and she hit the ground with a shocked grunt. Something sharp struck her in the back, and she sat up, coughing blood feebly onto the ground, staining the grass and her shirt an eerie red. She gasped between the heaving of her chest, blinking back tears of fear and humiliation. The air around her shook with another oncoming attack, and she shut her eyes, swallowing.

"Not today!" Jade hissed, grabbing the back of Luma's tunic and pulling her out of the way, just as the earth where she had been sitting crumbled away. "I can't have my newest subordinate die in the midst of a mission...you'll have to wait a while to keel over on me."

"Gee, thanks." Luma shot back weakly, bringing a gloved hand to her mouth, trying not to vomit again. There was a sheen of sweat on her brow, making her bangs stick to the sides of her flushed cheeks, and she scrubbed at it halfheartedly. She had miraculously hung on to her sword, which she let hit the ground by her feet. Jade frowned, shaking his head, but didn't voice his disapproval. All he said was, "Kill or be killed, Luma. Pull yourself together."

Then, he returned to battle.

Luma watched, stunned, through tired eyes. It took her a moment to realize what had happened—to realize that he'd had given her a choice. She ran her fingers over the hilt of her katana, watching as Jade and Leif hacked away at the beast while Anise and Tenebrae cast spells from afar. Slowly, she pulled off her right glove, exposing the Rabbit insignia on the back of her hand. Her whole body shook as she stood, leaning on her sword, and charged once more at the dragon.

"Sword Rain!" she managed, stabbing the animal in its left hindleg several times. The dragon ignored her in favor of breathing black flames over the rest of the battlefield. The blade wielder watched in horror as the smoke cleared, revealing her fallen teammates. With her sudden adrenalin rush depleted, she sunk to her knees, digging her fingernails into her own shoulders. It was over...she was going to die...

"Azure Edge!"

"Rising Phoenix!"

When Luma opened her eyes, it was to the sight of the dragon, lying dead in a pool of its own colorless blood, beheaded. Elize and Chat were some distance away, one unconscious and the other gasping for air.

In the midst of it all were two males. The first one, Luma recognized from his wanted poster. He had long, purple hair, and was dressed in a black outfit with violet and gold trimming. He held a sword in his left hand and its sheath in his right, and, although he looked slightly tired, he didn't at all look like he had just killed a large monster.

The boy to this one's right, Luma recognized immediately.

He was a few years younger than the other, to be sure, but only slightly smaller. His hair was shorter, too—off-white in color, and pulled into a messy ponytail. An orange and black bandanna kept his bangs out of his deep red eyes. His skin was ghostly pale, almost resembling his hair in value. He wore an amber jacket with black cuffs and white trimming, and black jeans. His boots were a dusty grey, like they had once been white but had faded with time, and each had a little emerald flower on the toe. He held a yo-yo in his left hand, and had bracers on either arm. He exhaled in relief as the monster fell, then turned to face Luma.

"S-Sol?"


	5. A Doomed Battle: Jade VS Luma!

"Ow! _Fuck_, that stings!"

"Quit whining, Lu..." Sol sighed, withdrawing the warm, damp cloth from Luma's bare shoulders. She sighed contently as the pain ebbed, then yelped again when her friend touched the wound with no warning. "It could have been worse; be glad we found you when we did."

"I know..." Luma murmured after a minute, staring into the campfire. Her shirt, vest, gloves, and bandages were lying in a soaked heap next to it. The bloodstains were just barely washed out, thanks to Yuri. She almost regretted not doing the laundry herself and sparing Yuri the effort, but he had insisted that she was too injured to worry herself with the task. He hadn't bothered pointing out that her injuries were the result of her own carelessness, or that she and the colonel were in his debt. He had just...taken the the clothes to the river without a word and got on his knees to scrub the filth out of them.

That must have been hours ago, though, before the moon had ripened in the sky, and before Sol had even lit a fire. Yuri was still busy, though, scavenging for discarded goods by their earlier battlefield with Jade, Anise, Tenebrae, and Chat. Elize was still asleep.

"What happened back there, though?" Sol asked, running his thumb over the knots in her muscles, and Luma could hear the concern in his voice. "You're usually much more focused...did you lose your Mystic Core?"

"No, no," Luma assured dismissively, showing the boy her right hand, and the little insignia on it. "I still have that."

"Good." Sol replied, pausing to tug at his ponytail. "You'd certainly have a hard time fighting without them."

"Yeah, I know." the girl huffed impatiently, rubbing at her sore joints when Sol stopped doing it for her. "It's impossible to channel large enough quantities of mana for battle without one—..." her voice hitched, ending in a groan as she worked a particularly bothersome kink out of her shoulder.

Sol looked surprised. He dropped the damp cloth onto the ground next to the bandages, shaking his head in disbelief and bringing an open palm to his forehead.

"That's all you've been using them for?" he asked, dumbfounded. "Sword artes and the like? No wonder that dragon almost killed you lot..."

"What do you mean?" she ventured, letting her hands fall uselessly to her lap and raising an eyebrow. Her pupils were wide with curiosity on their celadon backdrops. "I thought that was all they were good for...learning and using new artes."

"You thought wrong..." he explained in that 'make yourself comfortable, this is going to be one hell of a lecture' tone of voice. "If multiple people are fighting with the use of Mystic Cores, then they can tap into the same mana reserve. In other words, they can fight in unison, and use stronger artes than any one person could on their own. Different people react to different Cores, so there are limitless possibilities..."

"So that's why not even Jade could kill it..." Luma breathed, wincing as the warm cloth pressed against her gashed shoulder blade again. Sol murmured an apology behind her, running the fingers on his free hand gently down the sides of Luma's spine in a way that made her arch her back reluctantly against his fingertips and whimper pathetically.

"We can practice in the morning," Sol promised, muttering the incantation to a healing spell and bringing his hand away from her spinal column and to her shoulder, "but you should get some rest. Yuri and I will stand watch."

"Okay..." Luma agreed as Sol finished bandaging the gradually healing wound, reluctantly closing her eyes. She was almost surprised at how quickly she got comfortable, falling asleep with her head on Sol's chest.

* * *

><p>"Yuri and I will demonstrate, okay?" Sol asked, eyeing the group in front of him.<p>

"You both look worn out." Elize fretted. "And Yuri is hurt. Maybe this should wait 'til tomorrow. It's not like we have a mission anymore..."

"Our targets found us before we could find them." Anise added with a pout.

Yuri shifted his weight, discreetly hiding his bandaged left hand behind his back and switching his sword to his right hand. Sol shook his head, twirling his yo-yo between a thumb and a forefinger.

"You can't possibly hope to make it back to Panamko alive if you can't use your Mystic Cores properly." the albino objected. He yawned loudly, exposing his sharp, almost demonic looking teeth, then slid his yo-yo into the shallow, rounded sheath on his belt. "Your ignorance almost killed you."

Nobody objected.

"Alright, then," he continued, "let's start with the basics. You all know how to channel mana for artes, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"You all have Mystic Cores?"

More nodding.

"Perfect. Since different Cores enable their users to preform different arts—" he paused to stifle another yawn, "you'll all be able to use different unison attacks depending on who you preform them with. In this case, Yuri fights with a Cerberus Core, and I fight with a Bakeneko Core."

Yuri already had his sword at the ready when Sol finally squinted at the training dummy a few yards away. He swiped at his eyes once in annoyance, then sprang up in the air and hit the target with a Rising Phoenix from above, just as Yuri's Azure Edge struck.

"Cerulean Chaos!"

The dummy erupted into a brilliant wisp of cyan blaze. Smoke billowed briefly from the flames. Yuri and Sol landed on opposite sides of the clearing; the swordsman on one knee, and the cleric on all four, balanced perfectly, like a cat or a dog.

Sol stood first, reaching into his pocket and tossing an object to Luma. She caught it, startled, and realized a moment later that it was Sol's journal.

"I've written down all the possible combinations that I know." Sol explained, rubbing his eyes and shutting them tightly. "I have no need for it, now. You can hang on to it and record your findings." He then turned to Yuri, frowned, and tapped the man on the shoulder. "Tag." he mumbled. "You're it. I need a break."

"Yeah, got it." Yuri replied calmly, motioning towards the trees. "We'll take the training over there."

Jade, Luma, Tenebrae, Leif, and the girls stood up wordlessly and gathered their weapons. Now that she thought about it, Luma had never bothered to ask what Cores the colonel and his subordinates used. It hadn't really mattered, up until then. She had just figured that they knew how to fight, and that was all that was important.

They walked through the woods just as silently, with Jade and Yuri in the lead, followed by Luma and the other girls, and with Tenebrae taking up the rear. It would be easier to fight like this, they had decided, if something took them by surprise again; Anise, Chat, and Elize wouldn't have to worry about being split up, and Luma would be close enough to help them out of a tight spot. At least, that was what Jade had decreed.

"Hey, Yuri?" Luma asked, trying to break the silence.

"Hm?" Yuri hummed laconically, looking over his shoulder at the girl.

"How did you and Sol and up in jail?"

"I don't know about Sol, but I've been on the Panamko government's bad side for a while now...you'd know _all _about that, Curtiss."

Jade paused in his tracks, took a step back, even, and adjusted his glasses. He was smirking, and that that was never a good sign. Luma regretted asking, lowering her head in a silent apology. What the colonel did next, though, shocked her.

He shrugged, frowning in disdain, then kept walking.

"Never mind that, now." he said, offering Yuri a polite smile. "You helped us out, after all. That makes us even."

"I suppose it does." Tenebrae agreed from where he stood next to Leif. His voice sounded bitter. Luma bit her lip and kept walking. One gloved hand closed tightly around the hilt of her katana out of fear; she could only guess that if Tenebrae and Jade got pissed off at someone like Yuri, the result would be nothing shy of genocide.

"I'll just...I'll ask him later." Luma mumbled, drawing attention to the original question.

"If you must know," Jade coughed, "he was found trespassing on Panamko land—same as you. He was turned in by a pair of thieves...in return for their own freedom."

"...Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't believe you." Luma said bluntly. "You're lying. Or not telling the whole truth. You aren't the kind to let a criminal out of your sight, even for a minute. That's why I'm here. That's why the girls are here, and why Yuri's here. That's why Sol's here, too. Because we're dangerous."

Jade looked irritated, which was scary enough. He looked her over, slowly, like he was trying to figure out how many artes it would take to kill her.

_Probably only one, Lu, _a voice told her.

She doubted he would try, but she drew her sword anyway.

_Nu-uh, Lu. _The voice laughed sadistically. _You can't fight alone. That's how you ended up in this mess. That's how you brought _Sol _into this mess, too, hon._

"Fuck you." Luma replied out loud. She gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth. Yuri and the girls were staring at her in shock. Leif wouldn't look her in the eye, and Tenebrae wouldn't look at any of them. Jade was glaring intently at Luma.

_Shitshitshitshitshit! _she groaned inwardly. _I did _not _mean to say that out loud._

_Red eyes. _the voice continued on thoughtfully, as though oblivious to Luma's current situation. _That's odd...red eyes are never scary when they're _Sol's _eyes._

Luma didn't bother to reply. She was arguing with _herself_, she realized. That wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"If it's a fight you want," Jade said slowly, "then I should hope you're a masochist."

She watched warily as he summoned his spear. Her hands clutched her own weapon tightly as she scanned the clearing. Anise and Chat had climbed a tree, and Elize was scampering after them. Yuri was leaned against a tree with his arms crossed and one eye closed. Only Tenebrae remained where he had been before, with his tails wrapped around his waist and all four paws on the ground. Leif—Leif was standing by Luma's side with his sickle ready. The hunter offered her companion a small smile. The beast broke his snarl when he looked at her, let his glare set into a reassuring blink. He whimpered once, then fell back into a fighting stance.

"Ladies first." Jade mocked, prompting Luma to make the first move.

She smirked, licking the dryness from her lips.

"Then go." she told him.

"Very funny." he sneered.

"Aren't I?" Luma jeered back.

Leif snarled as if to snap "just fight already" and took a step forward.

"Agreed." Luma whispered, raising her sword and slashing it twice on the ground.

"Double Demon Fang!"

Jade evaded the attack effortlessly. He held his spear loosely in one hand and tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. Luma hated that look. He was mocking her, and she knew it. Leif must have known it, too, because he growled fiercely and threw himself at Jade. This time, the colonel had to lift his spear defensively. Leif's curved blade collided with the wooden shaft of Jade's weapon, which creaked and bent but didn't give way under the pressure. The dog staggered backwards, barely recovering mid-fall and skidding to a stop.

"Sonic Thrust!" Luma shouted, jabbing her sword swiftly in Jade's direction. He parried the blow quickly with a twirl of his spear, then countered with a normal attack. Luma was barely able to flip her sword vertically and block. It was all she could do to back-step clumsily and swing her sword sloppily at his chest. He parried again, then stepped back and gave her a millisecond to recover before striking again.

"T-Tempest Strike!" she managed, jumping up and somersaulting forwards. She felt her sword just graze the other's skin, just under the left eye, and heard the clatter of his glasses as they hit the ground. She landed painfully on her right knee and stuck her sword into the ground to steady herself. She drew it from the earth slowly, then stood up and whirled around to face Jade. When their glares met, she froze.

His eyes were _red._

It shouldn't have struck her as a surprise. She had seen his eyes before. She _knew _they were scarlet. But now, when they weren't hidden behind the thick lenses of his glasses, they were different; they were wild and maddened, not calm and wise, albeit amused, like they usually were. It was enough to make Luma drop her sword and shrink back in shock.

Jade frowned disdainfully when Luma flinched. He paused, then bent down and snatched up his glasses. The man wiped the lenses on his coat, held them up to examine for scratches, then put them back on. His eyes were calm again. Luma barely had time to pick up her weapon before the fire of battle rekindled. She managed to forget the incident after a while. All she could focus on was the burning in her muscles as she swung her sword, feeling agonizing seconds become minutes, and minutes become hours.

By nightfall, they'd accomplished nothing.


	6. The Unnamed Assailants—Sol's Leaving?

Their battle died down a few hours after it began.

Luma collapsed with exhaustion the minute Jade put his weapon away. Leif sat by her side, licking her face and whining questioningly. Yuri and Tenebrae still had identical looks of disapproval and irritation plastered to their visage, which Luma tried her best to ignore. Anise, Chat, and Elize must have gotten bored, because Elize had falled asleep with her head on Anise's lap, and Anise was well on her way to dozing off. Chat, on the other hand, was carving her initials into a tree with a knife.

"That was a wonderful waste of time." Yuri remarked, his tone more laconic and venomous than usual. "But we should head back, now. Sol still hasn't caught up with us. That could mean trouble."

"Maybe he's just sleeping." Anise suggested groggily.

Luma shook her head.

"He should have come looking for us by now." she argued. The swordswoman jumped to her feet and looked at each member of the party in turn. She finally nodded, like she had decided on something, then pointed back towards the clearing where they had left Sol. Leif barked in approval.

"Let's just go check on him." she said, starting off. "It's getting late, anyway. If he's really fine, then we'll rest up and train some more tomorrow."

The group walked in silence, with Luma taking up the front. Leif matched her pace, even if he fell back every so often and whined quietly. The girl felt nausea building in her stomach, coiling uncomfortably into springs of gut-wretching fear. Even if the rest of the group wasn't worried, they must have noticed her edginess. Elize was staring at her sympathetically. Yuri was at least making an effort to keep up with her, and Anise and Chat looked ready to fight.

—Skit. No. 004: Something's Wrong!—

"Luma?" Elize asked quietly as she stood.

"You're awake? What is it, Elly?" Luma prompted.

"Um...why are you walking so quickly? I'm sure Sol's fine."

"N-No! He's not." Luma argued.

"How can you be so sure?" Chat demanded.

"I don't know..." Luma sighed. "I just...do."

"Nevertheless, we should hurry." Jade interrupted.

"Right." Anise agreed.

Leif barked.

—End Skit—

Suddenly, a flock of Chirpee burst from the trees in a frenzy of feathers and blood. Luma froze in her tracks, holding out her arm to stop the rest of the party. She heard the scraping of metal as Yuri unsheathed his sword, followed by the sliding of fabric as Anise unclasped her doll, Tokunaga, from her shoulders.

A cry of pain rang out, loud and clear, through the trees. Leif snarled loudly. Luma curled her lips in a sneer and unsheathed her katana, then motioned for the others to follow her lead.

She crept around the side of the clearing, slowly and cautiously, then threw her sword's sheath down and hoisted herself into a tree. Leif stayed on the ground with Jade and the girls, while Yuri followed Luma into the tree and hung from the branch next to her. Tenebrae disappeared in the leaves of an adjacent tree.

From where she crouched, Luma could see the clearing—and who was in it—clearly. Sol was on the ground with his back to a tree, pinned down by a white-haired girl in a red and white, frilly dress. There were two others there, too. One was a woman with long brown hair, pointed ears, and a tail. The other was a young man with a blade in either hand. His bangs were yellow and framed the sides of his face, but the rest of his hair was red and black.

Sol's face and neck, Luma could just make out, were dappled with cuts; some were already dried and scabbed, and others were still slick and shiny with blood. The white-haired girl had one hand in his hair, pulling on it harshly and laughing. Luma felt herself stiffen in anger. One of Yuri's hands brushed against Luma's shoulder in warning. Luma obeyed and forced herself to relax. She needed to stay calm. She needed a plan.

"Put that down!" she heard Sol shout, and he pulled at his wrists—they must have been tied behind his back. The girl in the frilled dress stood up, drawing a toy rapier from behind her back. Luma's eyes widened in horror as she leaned over, then brought the weapon down on Sol's face with the sound of plastic-on-skin. The boy's blindfold slipped off at the impact and fell uselessly into his lap. She saw him bit his lip, probably against a whimper. The second time the weapon lashed out, Sol screamed.

And Luma snapped.

"Luma, don't!" Yuri hissed, losing his grip on the tree branch and almost falling, but Luma wasn't listening.

"We don't take orders from you, kid!" the girl with the rapier sneered.

"Then maybe you'll take orders from _us_!?" Luma shrieked. She jumped from the tree with her sword in hand, landing just in front of the girl and swinging her blade in a careful arch towards her. The girl barely had time to parry the blow, and when she did it was sloppy. Her weapon was merely a toy; it bent flimsily under the weight of Luma's sword.

Yuri landed noiselessly behind her, down one one knee, and the rest of the team slowly closed in. She stared the other girl right in the eyes—her eyes were red, she noted—and growled, low and menacingly. The red-eyed girl frowned, then dropped her toy sword. Luma smirked.

The other girl slapped her.

Luma hadn't been expecting the sting of the girl's hand on her cheek. She threw her sword down in disgust, staggering. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back forcefully and rubbed at her face in pain—the same pain that she knew Sol secretly enjoyed. She hissed in disbelief at that thought; how Sol saw anything but discomfort and suffering in the subject was beyond her.

The girl laughed wickedly at Luma's pain. She had that same evil, shit-eating grin on her features that Sol complained about to Luma, which only further pissed her off. Without a moment's hesitation, she yanked off one fingerless glove, rolled up her sleeves, and backhanded the girl.

"You little—!" the girl started to scream, but Sol took out her legs with a swift kick before she could finish her sentence.

"Sol!" Luma greeted, grinning at the girl's scream of indignation as she fell. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Sol replied, finally yanking his wrists loose of, Luma realized, the drawstring of his own yo-yo. He looked anything _but _fine—his cheek was swollen and bleeding from when the frilly-dress girl hit him, and the skin tissue on his collarbone and neck was similarly raised and bloodied, although not as extremely as on his face. His eyes were out of focus, even though the sun was setting steadily, and his breathing came out in unsteady rasps.

"You're hurt!" she protested.

"I'm _fine_." Sol insisted. He pulled the last knots from his yo-yo, then slipped it onto his finger.

"Then you're ready to fight?"

"There's no need!" the red-eyed girl spat. She had gotten to her feet and moved to stand next to her companions. The trio looked calm, for being caught by members of the Panamko military torturing someone on their land. The woman with the cat ears—she must have been the leader of the three—motioned for her teammates to fall back.

"We're not fighting anymore. We have what we came for. Zagi, Alice! Let's go."

"What makes you think we're willing to let you walk away unharmed?" Luma called after them. She took a step forward, but Jade reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Let them go." he whispered.

The woman glanced back at Luma, then smiled. She disappeared into the trees first, followed by the girl. The man with the odd hair paused on his way after them. He turned around, and Luma couldn't tell if it was her that he was looking at, or Sol. Either way, he grinned, cracked his knuckles, and laughed, "Next time we meet...I will _kill _you."

"Like hell you will..." Sol murmured. Luma turned to look him. She paused and bit her lip, then threw her arms around him and pulled him into a smothering hug.

"You're hurt, Sol!" she wept, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "We're gonna have someone look at that welt as soon as we get back to Panamk—"

"I'm not going back with you." Sol whispered suddenly.

"Wh-what?" Luma gasped, feeling dread build in the pit of her stomach. "I...didn't quite catch—"

"I'm not going with you to Panamko." Sol repeated loudly. "You're on your own."

"Why!?" Luma demanded, hurt. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, Lu." Sol explained with a wistful smile. "You followed your heart and chose your allegiance. But I can't go down the same path as you. The military is after Yuri and I, and therefore so are you. I can't follow you to my own doom."

"Then what are you gonna do?" Luma challenged. "Are you going back home?"

"To do what?" Sol countered coolly. "Tell your father that I couldn't bring his daughter back because she ran away to join the military of a country that wants our land under their rule? I don't think so."

Luma took a step back and shook her head in disbelief.

"Then what?" she asked.

Sol took a deep breath, then responded, "I'm traveling with Yuri. He helped me find you, and I want to return the favor."

"You'll just slow him down, Sol." the words were out of Luma's mouth before she could stop them. She bit her lip, barely containing a gasp.

"Slow him down?" Sol whispered. His bangs fell over his eyes darkly, and his mouth twitched in an angry smirk. His voice rose suddenly to a screech. "How will I slow him down, Luma? Fucking _how_!?"

Luma swallowed. She supposed it was too late to back down.

"You can't fight, Sol."

"Oh, this is rich. Fucking brilliant. I can't fight? This coming from the girl who got her ass handed to her by a dragon?"

"And _you _just got beaten half to death by a girl with a toy sword. If I hadn't saved you then—"

"I didn't _ask _for your help." Sol snapped. "I could have saved myself I wanted to."

"Then why didn't you!?" Luma screamed. "No excuse there, unless you _wanted _that girl to hurt you."

"That's...irrelevant." Sol faltered. "I can still fight!"

"No you can't, Sol." Luma argued quietly. She couldn't stop herself; Luma wasn't one to step down from a fight. She put her hands on Sol's chest, shoved him backwards harshly, and hissed, "You're _blind_, Sol."

Sol didn't answer. He just stood there with his head lowered and his face concealed. The wind ruffled his hair lightly. Luma felt it running through her own dark braid, too, and drying the tears that she hadn't realized she cried. Her friend made a noise of disgust, and she saw his shoulders trembling violently.

"Screw you, Luma." he sneered finally. He whirled around without another word, swishing the pompoms on his jacket's cuffs, then ran off into the trees, leaving Luma to stand there and let the true weight of her own words sink in. The breeze left in Sol's wake glimmered with the moistness of little crystal droplets.

_Tears._


End file.
